IndyCar News: Lundgaard tops St. Pete GP Practice 2

The second practice session for the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season opener at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was marked by tricky, damp conditions following overnight rain, leading to slower times and several incidents on the 1.8-mile street circuit. Christian Lundgaard of Arrow McLaren set the pace with a best lap of 1m01.615 seconds.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Lundgaard edged out Marcus Armstrong of Meyer Shank Racing by just 0.044 seconds. Defending champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing, rounded out the top three at 1m01.694.

Unlike Friday’s dry Practice 1, where Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin topped the charts with a blistering 1m01.102s, Saturday’s session saw drivers grappling with a slippery track. The field was initially split into two groups before a full-field run, but the damp asphalt caused multiple off-track excursions. Notably, Will Power of Andretti Global suffered a heavy impact early on, slamming into the concrete barriers and recording no time.

“I just feel bad for the team,” Power said. “Just have to try and get it together before qualifying.

“We have actually a lot of time, but to miss this session was a big hit for us considering the session we had yesterday. Yeah, not an ideal start. Yeah, had a lot of issues yesterday that we hopefully resolved, but now we’re not going to know until I get to run.”

“Yeah, it was just a lock-up,” Power said. “You start it and then you’ve locked that wheel and you’ve got to get off to unlock it. It was just poor.

“If it had happened a little earlier, I would have been able to just go straight. But it actually happened, so it was such a light brake pressure too. But like I said, there were tires that were locked a lot yesterday. So, yeah, not ideal.”

Despite the challenges, several drivers impressed. Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global was fourth overall at 1m01.738, showing strong form in Group A. Newcomers like Mick Schumacher (Rahal Letterman Lanigan) adapted well but finished lower in the order at 1m02.907. The session highlighted the importance of tire management and setup adjustments ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Teams will fine-tune for the Firestone Fast Six pole shootout. Practice 2 sets up an intriguing battle, as the top 10 were separated by less than 0.4 seconds.

Practice 2 Results